"Yong Junhyung...?"

Stumped. At the mention of his name coming from her pale pink lips, Junhyung was rooted to the ground.

She was here; so close, just a few little steps away in front of him and Junhyung suddenly felt the urge to move  both of his feet forward. But he couldn't. Then he thought about moving backward.

I have to go... I can't see her like this. At least not in this state.

Junhyung had made up his mind when he left. She wasn't supposed to still linger at their memories and he wasn't supposed to re-appear in front of her; she was supposed to move on and he was supposed to leave quietly...

The soft hair along his arms stood up at the huge internal dilemma. His mind understood to take a step, but his muscle couldn't execute the order.

Run, said a voice inside his head.

But she's...there, screamed the voice of his heart.

Your plan has been working perfectly for 4 years and now you're going to throw away those years of effort?

The time has come for you to retrace back the lane of memories, you shouldn't leave without knowing who you are or not surronded by people that love you.

"Junhyung!"

The headache. Clutching his head as if it was about to fall off, Junhyung tried to ease the sudden pain that struck him. It hurt, a lot, from the temples all the way to the back of his head. It did feel like as if it was going to fall.

"You're okay?!" Vaguely, he could hear Doojoon's voice. Panic was in his tone.

Junhyung tried to raise his head, but it felt so damn heavy. He fell to his knees.

"Junhyung-ah.... Oppa, what happened to him?" A softer voice. Junhyung cringed at the thought of her seeing him like this.

Run, the voice inside his head said again.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the wall to get back on his feet. He staggered, but managed to focus his sight. Doojoon was in front of him with furrowed eyebrows, repeating, "Are you okay?" over and over again. Son Naeun was there too, beside Doojoon, shock was written all over her expression.

He had enough. He had that kind of looks; they screamed pity.

His head was right. Thank god he still had his mind right. So, he turned back and ran with a throbbing pain in the head.

Yong Junhyung sighed. Here he was again, in Doctor Kim's too familiar office.

A small knock was heard and the old man came in.

"Sorry, for making you wait, Junhyung-gun."

Junhyung shook his head.

"The reason why I called you today is because I'd like to...," the doctor paused a bit before continuing, "have a chat with you, about your condition, how you get through your daily routines, things like that."

"Does that have anything to do with... it?" His memory might not functioned well, but his sense did. After knowing the doctor for years, he knew he could trust him because of his honesty. He was not good at lying, as he was showing at the moment.

The doctor let out a nervous chuckle. "Aigoo, how can you be so skeptical, I just want to finish the conversation that was abruptly stopped. Do you, perhaps, remember when was the last time we meet?"

Silence.

The doctor took a deep breath. He put his hands together and placed them on a closed folder. Junhyung could read his name on it.

"You don't have to tell me the exact day and date, just tell me do you think we met some time not long ago before today?"

Silence again.

"Junhyung-gun-"

"Did we?"

The doctor seemed to be taken aback by Junhyung's answer, but Junhyung didn't care. He knew, he knew what the older man was trying to do.

"Then, could you fill this form for me?"

Junhyung took the clipboard from the doctor's hand. A single paper was attached to it. It was a personal information form.

His heart raced at the sight of the blanks. Address, phone number, birthdate...

"Why do I need to fill this?" he asked, "The hospital has my information already."

"We had a malfunction with the computerized system-"

"I can't."

"Sorry?"

"I refuse to fill it."

Anger could be heard from Junhyung's reply and Doctor Kim knew he had to stop. "Do you mind telling me the reason why you refuse to do so, Junhyung?"

Biting his lip, Junhyung wondered if he should go on with the pretention or spill the truth. True, he felt...pissed. He couldn't explain it. He had never been a hot headed or a sensitive person, but he found himself suddenly very unhappy at Doctor Kim. He thought for a bit and decided to go with his feelings.

"I don't wanna lie," he said, starting off with a sarcasm to reduce the anger tone in his voice, "I just can't fill out my personal information. I... don't know what to write. I... forget."

Putting aside the form, Junhyung looked at Doctor Kim. "Tell me what do these all mean," he said in a voice that sounded almost like pleading, "Doctor, just let me know how is my condition-"

"One more, just one more question from me."

"Okay..."

"Could you name the odd numbers starting from 20 in backward order?"

Junhyung lifted one of his eyebrow, confused at the doctor's request, but he did it anyway.

"20-"

"19."

"19, 17...15...14- Uh, I mean..." He paused. Too much numbers jumbled together in his head.

"It's okay, go on," said Doctor Kim.

He took a deep breath. "14, 11- is it 11? Then, um, 10, 9, 8..."

No.

Junhyung felt as if his heart dropped. He had no idea...how could he be unable to count? Worry started to build inside of him. Under the table, he rubbed his hands together. Ready for the worst.

Doctor Kim took off his glasses and put it on the table. Lines of wrinkle was visible around his eyes, the sign of old age and tire.

"It's worsening, Junhyung-ah. Faster than I expected. Based on the symptoms you had and the result of your brain check, it is currently at the late phase of stages 5."

Moderately severe cognitive decline (Moderate or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease)

Gaps in memory and thinking are noticeable, and individuals begin to need help with day-to-day activities...

Junhyung read the report carefully. After he finished reading it, he re-read it again. Words by words. Making sure he understood everything.

So this was his current condition, huh?

He thought about the sentence need help with day-to-day activities and cringed. He knew it was true and he was scared of what was next.

All these times, he had been fine. The disease didn't bother him that much. He might be forgetful, big time, but he could still take care of himself. And he was happy with it.

If I'm alone, no one will be hurt when I leave, this had been his principle for the last four years.

He thought about this as he leaned to the rooftop railings. He looked at the view of the streets below him. People walked leaving the hospital and most of them were hand in hand with someone.

How happy it must be, to continue to live indefinitely, to have someone by your side.

Leaving this world quietly, without no one noticing. Junhyung didn't know when did such eagerness appear inside of him. There was a reason. He could feel it, but that would mean tracing back his memory and his past. And he just didn't have both of them.

No, he actually found his past.

Yoon Doojoon. Son Naeun.

"Junhyung!"

As if the mention of their names was magic, Junhyung startled when the rooftop door suddenly bursted open, revealing Yoon Doojoon who shouted his name. And Son Naeun followed from behind.

What now?